Minnesota is about to undertake its most ambitious quest yet to figure out what is killing its iconic moose of the north woods.

Beginning this month, researchers with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will embark on a pair of pioneering projects to track moose and get to them right after they die, officials announced Friday, Jan. 4.

In all, 150 moose — 100 adults and 50 newborns — will be fitted with GPS collars this winter and summer. The collars will alert researchers when the animals die, allowing them to get to the carcasses within 24 hours to determine a cause of death — the key factor that has eluded researchers watching the animals’ numbers fall.

The two projects will cost $1.6 million — a combination of state lottery proceeds and $600,000 from in-kind contributions from research partners, including the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association and several American Indian groups.

The moose population in northeastern Minnesota has fallen to an estimated 4,200 animals, about half of what it was in 2006. Researchers suspect calves are dying at a higher rate than usual, but the most troubling trend is adult moose in their prime of life dropping dead. Moose have all but vanished from the northwestern part of the state where they once roamed.

Thus far, efforts to determine the cause of death for most moose have failed, said Erika Butler, wildlife veterinarian for the DNR and one of the leaders of the work.

“The problem with moose is they’re so big and have such thick fur that they retain a lot of their body heat,” Butler said. “Their organs decompose so quickly that by the time we get to them, we can’t learn anything.”

The new projects aim to recover a dead moose quickly — in some cases within hours, and perhaps even before the animal dies. If possible, researchers will transport the entire carcass to a lab to perform a necropsy, the term for an animal autopsy. Otherwise, necropsies will be conducted in the field.

Butler said the projects should start yielding useful information “as soon as moose start dying.” She said she hopes to see in two years meaningful data hinting at or explaining causes of death. Between 5 percent and 25 percent of the moose in northeastern Minnesota die each year.

The first project will target adult moose.

For two to three weeks later this month, researchers, in conjunction with private contractors, will fly over moose habitat in Lake and Cook counties in the Arrowhead region and shoot 100 moose — 75 cows and 25 bulls — with tranquilizer darts.

The animals will be fitted with collars that transmit six satellite-pinpointed locations per day and record outside temperature readings. If an animal hasn’t moved for six hours, a likely sign of death, researchers will receive a text message and hurry to the location.

In 27 of the adult moose, researchers will insert a more sensitive instrument into the animals’ digestive tracts. This implant will record body temperature and heart rate and alert researchers the moment an animal’s heart stops, allowing them potentially much quicker access to it and providing a health record of the moose. Butler said she hopes to buy more implants next year.

Traditional radio collars — picture a researcher wandering the woods with a pair of rabbit-ear antennae — often resulted in researchers needing 10 days to find a moose carcass.

The second project will target newborn calves.

In June, when female moose give birth, researchers will affix GPS collars to 50 newborns “within days of birth,” said project leader Glenn DelGiudice. “That’s never been done before.”

Moose don’t thickly congregate or strictly use the same calving grounds, and locating newborn calves is only possible thanks to research under way at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. For two years, researchers there have followed detailed movements of 65 moose between Grand Portage and Voyageurs National Park.

“We can recognize when a cow will give birth by her movements,” said Ron Moen, a UMD biologist leading the research. Last year, DNR staff followed Moen’s data as a test run and were able to locate moose calves, so they’re confident they’ll be able to find newborns and affix collars.

DelGiudice said because moose calves die at such a high rate — more than 50 percent in the first year — he’s confident researchers will begin gleaning useful information this year.

The DNR has been planning the projects for several years but waited until enough funding was accumulated to buy the equipment, officials said. Each radio collar costs $2,500 and will stay on an animal for up to five years. After five years, the collar will release automatically, and researchers can retrieve it.

Researchers suspect that the declining moose population is connected to warmer summers, the result of climate change. Other possible links include parasites carried by deer and changes in habitat.

Minnesota also allows moose hunting, but with fewer than 100 permits issued this year, Butler said hunting mortality isn’t a significant factor. Still, the state annually considers whether to hold a hunt and has been reducing the number of permits for years.

Once researchers figure out what is killing the moose, the DNR will look at options to stop it, if possible.

Lou Cornicelli, wildlife research manager for the DNR, acknowledged that it’s possible the research projects will explain why the moose are dying but scientists won’t be able to stop it.

“We should do what we can even if we can’t change the outcome,” he said.

As outdoors editor for the Pioneer Press, Orrick fishes, paddles, hunts, skis and romps across the region while staying on top of outdoors news. When the occasion demands, he's also been known to cover topics ranging from politics to golf. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and son.​

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